


when the mirrors and the lights and the smoke clear

by ivylynn



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Gun mentions, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, References to Drugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 22:14:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13327458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivylynn/pseuds/ivylynn
Summary: Winter Schnee is a professional: she does what she's assigned, chases whatever lead she gets and she gets results. Crossing paths with Yang might just be her biggest challenge yet for entirely unexpected reasons.





	when the mirrors and the lights and the smoke clear

**Author's Note:**

> the title is from the song celebrity status by marianas trench, but the story really has nothing to do with the whole song.

Yang’s life is a series of good decisions. They lead her to traditionally bad things, but if being a criminal is what her life leads her to, she’ll take it.

She doesn’t regret it for a moment.

Money makes her life better and, quite frankly, it’s easier than going through college and finding a job that’ll pay much less. She moves from small dealings to bigger in record time, creates a network of buyers who trust her because she’s never crossed anyone.

She trains for it – physically, that is. Her apartment has a room dedicated to exercise and a punching bag in the middle of it to practice. She hasn’t had to use much force, but it doesn’t hurt to pack a punch when customers get smart. It’ll end badly for them, which is just about the only thing that matters.

Her business operations only move up from drugs. She starts slowly, but eventually she builds up a team of people she can trust that don’t even know her face. She takes precautions at every step and sells whatever people will pay for.

Weapons end up being the most profitable.

It’s only fitting that what she takes most interest in is what comes as her downfall. Yang doesn’t deal with people anymore – she has people whose job description is exactly that. But days around a new year are the most hectic in terms of getting others to do stuff and she ends up having to run an errand herself.

A handgun: it’s a job beneath her, but she delivers it as asked because she’ll never turn down safe money for the sake of keeping herself off the streets. She considers it a pit stop on her way to Ruby’s, an alley in between her place and her destination, one she knows too well.

An alley she gets stuck in when a police car blocks the path out of it. It’s just her luck to respond to an undercover cop – Yang doesn’t believe in coincidences. She follows along with instructions because they don’t have much on her, and running to her bike armed doesn’t seem like the best choice.

She’s escorted straight into an interrogation room, but she waits for the detective a while before the woman actually enters the room. She’s alone and all too familiar; she doesn’t know Yang, of course, but Yang’s made it a point to know every good detective in town so she knows their faces.

“Do they send Schnees to deal with all low-tear criminals now?” Yang grins at the woman, leaning as far back in her chair as the handcuffs will allow her. “I thought daddy would’ve pushed for a promotion as soon as you made–”

“My position in the force is none of your concern, Miss Xiao Long. It is in your best interest to cooperate with us if you wish to return to your daily schedule of taking petty jobs.”

Winter Schnee: white hair, thirty-three, the fastest to gain rank in the city recently and on her way to making chief in record time. Yang does her homework _well_ , it’s almost a wonder she never finished college. She’s even as thorough as to go digging into families of those on the force, which for Winter wasn’t that hard considering Yang’s working with her father.

Not that Yang suspects Winter would know about the discrete dealings of Schnee senior.

“Let me get straight to the point: we aren’t interested in you. Your suppler, on the other hand…” Winter takes a seat across from Yang and crosses her legs, dropping her file on the table in front of her. “We know them by the name of Ember Celica, but I am certain you could offer a little more than that.”

“A low-tear perp like me? I have no idea who’s at the top of the chain.”

Yang studies the way Winter moves. It’s not much – a head crack here, a leg shake there – but it’s enough to know that she’s not a patient woman.

“I do not think you understand. No one needs to know you were caught today. I’m sure you wouldn’t want the news to travel to your boss, I don’t know if they’d be so forgiving if you walked out of here with just a slap on the wrist.”

Winter is bluffing, Yang’s sure of it. She doesn’t care much for what she’s implying, seeing as she’s the one in charge of it all, but there’s a game there Yang would _love_ to play. Not a lot of things come as a challenge these days – she needs something to entertain her more than business does.

“So what do you want from me?” Yang’s interest shines as she leans in, placing her forearms on the table.

“Is it so easy to convince you?”

“I value my life more than I care for money, Miss Schnee.”

“We want you to go on with your life as you have, Miss Xiao Long. With a little more effort to come through as one of the best. We need you to be our ears on the inside. With a clean record like yours, I’m sure you know how to be undercover.”

“And what exactly do I get in return?”

“Your life and protective custody after all is said and done, of course.”

*-*-*-*

They’ve been chasing this Ember Celica for too long to let go of a possible connection and Winter jumps at the opportunity to take point of the situation. She has the experience, but it’s her first huge case that she can’t risk having anyone else handle. She’s always had trust issues, even with her co-workers; no matter how much they could prove themselves, she knew she could do the job better.

So, when Yang Xiao Long gets caught, she studies her file, lets her wait in the interrogation room for a while and then convinces her that she has no other choice. She doesn’t like threatening people, but it’s a part of her job that she must do if someone’s on the edge. She’s not sure she’d go through with it – putting Yang’s life in danger – but the threat alone works well enough not to have to think about it.

When she’s at her desk later, Winter wonders whether anything can come out of this, but she suspects this isn’t the first offense Yang has made despite what her file would have to say. Criminals usually have something they’ve done that’s not reflected in their file, and no matter how sloppy this job was done, it was still a job.

“Are you ready for dinner?”

Winter snaps out her thoughts when she hears Weiss’ question, nodding. “Yes. After the day I have had, I believe there is some cause for celebration. We finally have an in on the Ember case.”

*-*-*-*

Yang communicates directly with Winter; it turns out quite a bit more interesting than she thought it would. Above all, Yang’s favorite thing is flirting on the phone that’s meant only for their business conversations. She’ll throw in simple statements like, “And how was _your_ day, beautiful?”

Because what’s fun in _not_ trying to seduce the detective she works with?

To her credit, Winter always changes the topic and, Yang assumes, rolls her eyes. She seems like an eye-roller. They’re a week into their so-called partnership when Winter finally indulges her.

“My day was wonderful, thank you for asking.” Yang doesn’t like to assume things about other people, but the word wonderful has always rubbed her the wrong way.

“That bad, huh?” It’s a shot in the dark, and one that closes the door that’s only been open for a second.

“That is none of your business.” It’s closed before Yang can even get any fun out of it.

*-*-*-*

Winter calls daily and Yang never fails to answer the phone with some comment on her appearance. She lies to herself saying it doesn’t flatter her, but it brings a smile to her face, breaking a steady, cold expression she usually carries.

“Miss Xiao Long, please be professional.”

“Always am.”

“Right,” Winter rolls her eyes even if Yang can’t see her. “Have you made any progress today?”

She doesn’t expect things like these to happen over the night, but she has to check in with Yang daily to keep track of whatever is happening. She suspects Yang hasn’t been in the business for long because it takes longer than it should for simple improvements, but she doesn’t mention it for fear of putting more pressure than there already is on the woman.

Just because she is feeling the pressure from her boss doesn’t mean that Yang should feel it, too; she’ll throw in a comment or two about it every now and then, but never too aggressively.

“I got a job for tomorrow, but that’s about it. Just a delivery, I don’t know how much that helps you,” Yang replies. Deliveries are great because it means they’re giving Yang more to do for the gang, but it’s not what she needs the most.

“The busier you get, the better. Make them trust you.”

She ends the call before Yang has a chance to respond, and places the phone down on the desk in front of her. At least she has something to write in her log.

*-*-*-*

The first time Yang sees Winter outside of regular meetings is when she doesn’t answer her phone. In her defense, the loud music in the club she _works_ at does wonders with not letting her hear it. Vibration is, as always, off.

Her cover is being a bartender at one of the local hot spots which she’s never frequented. The last thing she needs is anyone recognizing her in places like these, and this one doesn’t have a VIP lounge she would’ve visited.

She spots Winter at the end of the bar and takes her sweet time getting to her. She’s not abiding the regular dress code people use when going to clubs, because it’s Winter, and Yang knows her more than the other woman would like. Winter is uptight, always dressed professionally and not at all suitable for undercover missions.

Most of all, Winter is sloppy.

“What can I get you?” Yang asks when she’s served everyone else their drinks. She guesses that Winter believes her ‘boss’ wouldn’t recognize her, which is why she’s relaxed in a place like this. Or as relaxed as Yang’s seen her. “You’re taking a gamble showing up here.”

“A glass of water.” Winter nods, tapping her fingers on the bar. “I do seem to look out of place, but you didn’t answer my call.”

Yang pours her a shot of tequila along with the water she wants, placing both in front of Winter. “Didn’t hear it. Kinda hard to with this music.”

“Can you take a break?” Winter takes the shot she was given right as she poses the question.

Shrugging, Yang turns to tell (shout) the other bartender she’s going, “Em, I’m taking my break!”

She leads Winter out of the club and into the alley behind it. The music is still audible outside, but at least it’s possible to talk normally and still be heard. The only source of lighting is a dim streetlight and maybe that’s for the best because Yang’s hand is shaking and she’d rather not let Winter see that.

“We got intel telling us there’s a big shipment of guns coming in soon, but we don’t know when exactly. We need that information, Miss Xiao Long.”

Yang nods, smirking. “They usually do shipments by sea, I’ll find out the time.” This puts a good portion of her dealings on hold because she has to reroute the original shipment and get another one for this; if she can do it quickly enough, she won’t lose too much.

“Make sure you are subtle, I do not expect Ember to be there personally,” Winter advises, taking a step closer to Yang. There’s a small height difference between them, just an inch or so, and Yang’s not used to many people being taller. It makes her uncomfortable to stand so close.

So she does what feels right in the pause that follows: she kisses Winter. It’s short and Winter parts before Yang can deepen the kiss; they look at each other in utter silence before Winter breaks it by walking away.

“Get that information, Yang. Give me something to prove my boss you are not useless.”

As much as Yang is starting to hate these assignments, it’s better that she’s the spy than anyone else they might get. If she has to sacrifice a few pawns to still be the one on the inside rather than letting them find someone else, then so be it.

She doesn’t care for too many of her crew, anyway.

*-*-*-*

Winter can still taste the kiss in the cab on her way home and it _agitates_ her. She does not need any lingering thoughts about a petty criminal she’s working with, no matter how inexperienced she seems.

Theirs is supposed to be a completely professional relationship and she’s gone and allowed it get out of hand letting Yang kiss her like that. She doesn’t pull away quickly enough, indulges her more than it’s appropriate and leaves with Yang’s name and taste still on her lips.

More inappropriately, she leaves wanting _more_ , and that is unacceptable. The mere fact that she would even think about something like that is appalling, but she doesn’t exactly stop herself. She spends the rest of the night thinking about it: in the shower, while trying to read and then, later, when she’s trying to fall asleep.

It’s just a side effect of talking every day, and of letting Yang’s compliments get to her, but it messes with her head and lets her get mere four hours of sleep in place of the eight she regularly prefers.

*-*-*-*

The first time Winter lets her defenses down is two months into the operation and Yang’s brought her a ‘big piece of news’. It’s relief more than anything, Yang suspects, but she’ll take anything at this point. Having to report back to Winter every day has put a strain on her partying habits.

So, when they end up in a hotel room where no one would recognize them, and Winter is pushing Yang against the wall as she kisses her, it’s relief for Yang, too. They’ve been dancing around each other, and Winter’s got better at accepting compliments from her. To say this turn of events was _completely_ expected, though, would be going too far.

It’s Winter at the most vulnerable Yang has seen her, and it looks hot as hell. Their shirts are off, and Winter is pushing her towards the bed, until she’s sitting down on it with hands on Winter’s hips. Maybe it’s time she got a little vulnerable, too.

“I needed money,” she says.

“What?”

“When you caught me – I needed the money and my buddy Mercury hooked me up.” She gives a real name because thinking one up in the moment would make her pause, most likely. “I’m still paying off hospital bills and my job doesn’t cover enough of it monthly.”

“I don’t need your backstory, Yang.” There’s something about her name on Winter’s lips that Yang adores, an inside joke only she knows, because Winter knows two of her names and this is the only one she’s can call her.

“I just wanted you to know that it’s the first thing on my record because I haven’t done anything before that.”

“I realized that when it took you a month and a half to meet someone higher up, Yang.”

In another lifetime, she would’ve been a great actress.

*-*-*-*

Winter doesn’t linger, and Yang is thankful for it. There’s no kiss goodbye and no promise of seeing each other later even when they both know it’ll happen. It’s not the best sex Yang’s had, but she’s always loved tension in bed. Winter isn’t an expect to any extent of the word, but she’s good enough to satisfy when the tension does the rest.

It's enough to make her want it again.

It should be a warning sign, flashing red in her brain, but she doesn’t see it. Her wishes and desires have always been fulfilled and this time it’ll be no different despite knowing better. She shouldn’t hook up with the detective chasing her, but that’s all the more fun in it.

Instead of spending the rest of the day in bed wondering when they’ll have a repeat performance, Yang leaves the hotel room on the phone with Mercury and walks to her place. It’s the first day she’s spent there in a while, never going unless it’s to sleep. Having to work at a club to have some sort of cover for where she’s getting money has been awful for her sleeping schedule.

(She wonders if she could’ve got close with Winter if she hadn’t been caught, thinks about it some nights. In the end, she decides their paths never would have crossed had she not been caught on the job.

And then she doesn’t know whether that would’ve been better or worse.)

*-*-*-*

The stories about heroes and villains always end in a hopeful happy ending that doesn’t imitate life. Yang’s got a vantage point not everyone would on those stories. She sees the side where she’s winning and she’d be a classic villain in a movie.

She used to think she also differs in that she has no motive for doing what she does – it’s just fun. But lately it’s been more about getting money than anything, and she’s starting to get tired of it. She’ll leave once she has enough to cover her for life, she just doesn’t know what that sum is. Maybe it’s already there, or maybe it’s double what she has saved up now; she relies on knowing when that moment comes that she’s ready.

She doesn’t think she’ll ever stop because that would probably entail leaving everything behind and she has people she cares about. She has Ruby and her father, a soft spot for Nora and an inexplicable affinity for Emerald. The days that pass have her convinced that the police is never going to catch her, but it only takes one wrong step and she’s done for.

Getting close to the lead investigator seems like a good idea at first: she has an in to everything they know because it’s so little that they’re desperate enough to enlist a criminal to help them for the low price of freedom at the end of it all. And then she kisses Winter, she sleeps with her and she’s not sure anymore. Yang likes people: she won’t get close to them too often, but she enjoys company and talking. When that leads to nothing more than another warm body in her bed, that’s completely fine.

But when she’s getting dinner for someone else for the third time in the same week and spending the whole night talking about nothing of importance, it starts to become a problem.

Soon enough, she’s thinking about Winter when it’s not just about getting in the way of her work and she’s _screwed_. One more person on the list of those she cares about is not what she needs when all her plans lead to leaving.

*-*-*-*

Yang wakes up with Winter’s arm around her most mornings after a night together. She’s not normally the little spoon, but she prefers it with Winter. That, _and_ Winter doesn’t quite like being spooned, so it’s the better option when she wants to end the night cuddling.

This morning she wakes up to only a faint smell of something being cooked and half groans and half yawns at the lack of contact. She gets up not too long after waking up and heads to the kitchen without putting anything on, it’s relatively hot in Winter’s apartment.

“I’m not used to waking up without you,” Yang says, laughing when Winter’s startled by it. “Sorry,’ she tells her, walking closer to give her a kiss on the cheek once Winter turns around. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Good morning.” As always, Winter refuses to start any conversation without a greeting, it’s one of the things Yang gets accustomed to the more time she spends with her. “It’s alright, I didn’t expect you to be up this early, I was debating whether you would appreciate breakfast in bed.”

“If you had to wake me up for it, that’s a hard no,” Yang shrugs, leaning over Winter to see what she’s cooking. “Ah, _egg_ -cellent.”

“And you complain about _my_ jokes,” Winter rolls her eyes, pushing Yang gently aside so she can finish up the breakfast. “I do not have work today, so I was thinking we could have a day in, starting with breakfast and continuing with a warm bath. If you are free, of course.”

Yang moves back to take a seat at the kitchen isle as she nods. “Yeah, I don’t have anything before work tonight. The life of supervised crime puts _such_ a damper on my plans.”

“How very unfortunate.”

*-*-*-*

Winter’s always had just one path in life: justice. She spent four years in the military and the rest as a police officer and later detective in Atlas, working towards her goal. It’s been her dream life so far. It doesn’t leave much time for a personal life, working yourself into the ground by pursuing more cases than one should, but it fulfills her.

She’s never been one for romance, anyway, happy enough to let it go in order to be more focused. Weiss somehow manages both, but she’s never had the ambition that Winter has; it’s not an insult, it’s just the truth that even Weiss has to admit sometimes. Everyone has different views on life.

In the end, it all falls through with the new assignment and, more importantly, meeting Yang. They fit perfectly for a pair of a cop and a criminal, and Winter has no idea what to do with that.

After the first few months, she doesn’t _stop_ thinking about it all. They’re getting new leads on the case, working closer together and being the supervisor means she can’t exactly avoid her. Not that she wants to, really, but it would be nice to have an excuse not to see her instead of them ending up in her bed and her sleeping schedule being utterly ruined by Yang’s work hours.

In the end, she chooses seeing Yang over a couple of extra hours of sleep and it’s only a half a year into this operation that she truly thinks it through.

By the time she does, it’s already too late.

*-*-*-*

Yang invites Winter over to her place for the first time and plans a romantic dinner with takeout and cheap candles on her dining table because they can’t exactly go out in public and she technically should not be able to afford a fancy restaurant.

Winter deserves being taken out on nice dates and being doted on by her partner. That’s what they are, right – partners? They haven’t defined it or talked about it, but they act like it when they’re alone and that’s most of the time. So she makes the place look presentable enough for a romantic date.

She doesn’t have many things to clean out, she can dim the lights in the apartment and she’s done all that she really can. Her view’s not that great, and the place isn’t in an exactly safe part of town, but it helps sell the illusion better.

She’s finished setting up by the time Winter rings her doorbell, and she hurries to the door to open it. “Did you have trouble finding the place?”

“None at all, your instructions were clear,” Winter replies, shaking her head. Yang doesn’t remember when they got into the habit of kissing when they see each other, but she can’t imagine not doing it now. She closes the door after Winter and leads her to the dining room where the whole setup is.

One thing she knows about Winter is that she doesn’t care for romance – neither does Yang. But sweet gestures make her smile and Yang could look at that forever. The dinner ends up lasting for hours as they sit at the table just talking and joking around with no particular aim or reason to get up.

“So you had your cover blown because some rookie was freaking out about seeing you on their first day?”

“And I had been getting close to these people for three months, the whole operation was _tanked_.”

“Did that rookie make it far?”

“I’m sure they’re doing well in the Patch.”

“I love you.”

Yang blurts the three words out like they’re nothing, like she’s not been afraid of slipping up with them for a month. When it finally happens, relief washes over her and she’s surprised more than anything. Surprised that she feels lighter because of it, surprised that it just comes out without any urging, surprised that she can say it.

Surprised that she means it.

“I love you, too.”

They make love for the first time that night and, as cheesy as it sounds, it’s different than any other night they’ve had sex.

*-*-*-*

They’re both worn out by two in the morning and they pass out in each other’s embrace. Winter falls asleep with a smile on her face, holding Yang tighter than she probably should. For someone who’s always found love unnecessary to complete her, she’s found it an irreplaceable part of her that no one else can know about.

Keeping it a secret is the only logical thing to do, at least until this operation is complete, but that doesn’t mean that it’s any less rewarding, getting to spend time with Yang in such an intimate setting.

She falls asleep so fast and so happy, and she has no doubts in her mind.

*-*-*-*

She wakes up alone in bed when she expects to find a warm body next to her. She turns around and is greeted only by a post-it note stuck onto a picture of Yang and her on framed on Yang’s bedside table.

_It’s been fun, detective. Now that I won’t bother your city anymore, you might want to shift the focus of your investigation to your father_

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed the story!


End file.
